//------------------------------// // Chapter two // Story: Twisted Fate // by Evilhumour //------------------------------// All went bright, as Luna forced her eyes open and took a deep breath of air. Almost immediately, she felt the demon’s magic trying to force her mind to change into something else. Shoving it to the side with her own mental might, she tried to get rid of the white spots in her eyes, stretching out her wi- She froze. She couldn’t feel her wings. There was an aching emptiness where they should be, but they were not there! Turning her head around, she nearly fainted from the sight. She had been Grounded, the ancient and ultimate punishment to criminal pegasi! Her wings had been cut to the joint, just enough for it to be impossible for her to hide the fact she had once had wings and enough to leave the taste of the air that her pegasus magic gave he- She froze again, eyes widening even more now as her mind started to pick up on something else that was missing. No, no, no, nonononono! With a surprising hard to lift hoof, she tried to feel the tip of her horn. She felt nothing but air. Moving closer and closer to her head, she bit her lip to stop herself from crying out in fear of what she expected. Finally, she felt something and she had to bite deeper from crying out, trying to steady her already shaky breath. It had been removed! She had been Silenced! Cut in the same fashion of the olden days as the most severe punishment, almost right to the bottom of the bone that gave unicorns their magic! There was just enough for her to sense magic, but she would never be able to do any sort of magic again! Even lifting a piece a lint would be beyond her! She tried to get to her hooves, but found that to be a tremendously difficult task. Looking down made her cry out and nearly fall back on the sheet she had been laying on, tears starting to sneak out of her eyes. She had been Hobbled too; the last of the three ancient punishments! Her legs had been broken and healed improperly on purpose, thus preventing her from ever using her earth pony magic again and moving faster than a simple stroll! Grounded, Silenced and Hobbled! Any one of those three old, horrible punishments was enough to scare Luna, but all three at once was terrifying beyond belief! She was near immortal, and these were injuries that would never heal! A maimed crippled alicorn, confined in a small prison cell for all her - No, she thought to herself. She would not pity herself, as this was not real! She needed to find her sister, the Elements and then find the demon’s host in this false world and defeat it! The first step was to escape, find out what the lay of the lan- “Oh look, the little traitor is up!” a male voice sneered, the door in front of her yanked open. She reared backwards, as the sudden light blinded her. Without warning, she felt somepony’s magic grab her forelegs and throw her forwards. With a painful smack, her back hit something solid and circular, causing her body to bend around it. Letting out a whimper of pain, she tried to open her eyes, but a kick to her stomach forced them shut. “Get up, you murderous traitor!” a new voice, also male, spat at her. “The Empress wants to hear if you will finally accept your banishment, you stinking bitch.” He then spat on her, stomping on her side, causing her to whimper in even more pain. “I dunno Daily, she ain’t said yes in over a thousand years or so, I don’t know if she’ll finally get a brain!” The first voice mocked her, with the same magic from before lifting her upright only for somepony to smack her face with a metal shoe. “What is it, traitor? ‘Cause Daily over there is betting that you will finally see sense, and you know how rough he gets when you make him lose his money, eh?” Luna could sense him leaning towards her, his hot breath over her face. Before she could respond, she felt another rush of magic grab the stallion in front of her and throw him to the side. With the sound of flapping wings, she heard the second pony, Daily, yelp in pain as he too was thrown to the side. Falling to the floor and trying to get her breath under control, she managed to open her eyes to see her surroundings. She first saw the place where she was held. It was a tiny, concrete building with a metal door and a single slot on the bottom to slide food through. Looking upwards, she saw she was leaning against a tree, devoid of its leaves. Turning her head to the side, she saw the two ponies had abused her in a heap, in golden armour- oh Faust no! Reaching upwards, she felt her eye and let out sigh of relief. She was not her, thank Faust. “You idiots!” a unicorn guard covered in black and gold armour thundered his voice at the two ponies, her champion and saviour taking the right actions against these two horrible excuses of guards- “I don’t give a flying buck what you do to her, but you morons know not to delay the Empress!” The unicorn pushed off the pegasus and got to his knees, shoving the slowly waking pegasus to the unicorn. “General, sir, it was Daily that started it, he wanted to have a quick rut but I-“ Without warning, his red aura of magic cut the head off the unicorn mid-plea. “Daily Run, if you do not get onto your hooves and bring your brother’s head to the Empress and let her know why she is going to be late by the time I finish my sentence I will cut you-” The pegasus was already flying off with the dripping head in his hooves, leaving a blood trail behind him. “Stupid runt,” the general spat on the corpse, using his horn to remove the armour from the slain unicorn before setting the corpse on fire. “Think I wouldn’t notice that you were thrown outside?” The unicorn glared at her, causing Luna to fold inwards in fear and disbelief. “If it was Daily that started it, you would still be in your cell.” He frowned at her, anger still on his face. “What’s wrong, no threats or promise of my death too?” he snarled out, his horn lighting up. Luna could only stare upwards in the face of the unicorn and the murderous gleam he had in his eye. It was truly terrifying to see Shining Armor wishing nothing more to kill her.